


The Gym

by Leakenobia



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Bonding, Discipline, Jedi Training (Star Wars), Master & Padawan Relationship(s), Trouble in school, Young Dooku
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-31 03:45:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19417816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leakenobia/pseuds/Leakenobia
Summary: Jedi Apprentice Michael Dooku is very talented with a lightsaber but doesn't pay much attention to his other classes. He doesn't think of this as a problem. His Master disagrees.





	The Gym

**Author's Note:**

> In my headcanon Dooku wasn't trained by Yoda but by my original character Master Kenau Sio.

The hall was packed with people. Both Jedi knights, Masters and students. All of them engaged in some kind of physical exercise. In spite of all the commotion Master Sio spotted his apprentice at once. Michael Yan Dooku was battling five droids at once, his lightsaber almost moving too fast to see. A small crowd of Padawans had gathered around him, and starred at him with admiration. Though he wouldn’t admit it, Dooku rather enjoyed the audience. Dooku sensed his Master’s presence immediately and ended the fight by splitting two of the droids in half and shut off the rest. He turned off his lightsaber and made a polite bow to his Master.

“Are you busy?” Dooku didn’t answer the question, as he was out of breath. He grabbed a towel and whipped his face, grinning at his Master. Catching his breath he said:

“What do you think?” Master Kenau Sio couldn’t help but smile as he turned and addressed the other Padawans:

“I’m afraid the show’s over for today. Please return to your own training. And remember, as impressive as this looked, studying in class is just as important as saber drills.” As Dooku was facing the wall and not his Master, he dared rolling his eyes.

Dooku was a smart-ass. No doubt about it! But he was usually smart enough to keep the right amount of cheeky comments to himself, so he didn’t get in trouble. But it was a fine line and from time to time he crossed it. Luckily Master Sio was the only person in the temple, or in the universe for that matter, who could tell if Dooku was just joking around or actually being disrespectful. The Master allowed Dooku some amount of cheekiness, as long as they were in private. In public or when on a mission, Dooku kept his comments to himself, for the most part, and behaved just the way a Jedi apprentice was expected to. And as long as his student could tell the two things apart, Master Sio didn’t mind.

“Do you need me for something, Master?” Dooku asked, tossing the towel in the corner.

“I just wanted to make sure you were still around”.

”Awww… you missed me!” Dooku said with a cheeky smile. His Master lifted an eyebrow and kept staring at him. The apprentice looked a little confused. _What? What did I do?_

“Master Queety missed you at his lecture this morning”. _Oh no ….. I knew I forgot something._

“I’m sorry, I completely forgot“, the boy answered looking guilty. A short awkward silence followed.

“Any chance you choose to stay away, like last time?” Master Sio asked in a firm voice. Dooku looked a little bit embarrassed but exclaimed:

“No I swear!” Master Sio regarded his apprentice for a moment. He seemed sincere.

“To make up for this, you’ll attend his lesson this afternoon and apologize to him in person” he said. Dooku flinched but didn’t argue.

“Yes Master” the Padawan answered with a serious face.

“And make sure you get a new schedule by tomorrow” Master Sio said, as he got to his feet.

“Yeah, I’ll do that” Dooku said, squeezing his lightsaber and itching to keep moving. Sio took pity on the boy:

“Meet me back at our quarters after the lesson. As you were”. Sio hadn’t even left the room, when he heard Dooku’s lightsaber slice through yet another droid.

“Remember to leave some of the practice droids still intact” the Master shouted over his shoulder.

* * *

A couple of hours later, Dooku was still at the gym. The Padawan kept ten apples flying in the air making circles, while juggling three others from hand to hand. He was so focused on the task in front of him, that he didn’t even notice the arrival of his best friend. Padawan Dale Miller decided to greet his friend with a little surprise. He turned the lid off his water bottle and threw the cold content at Dooku’s neck. The Padawan jumped with surprise and dropped all the fruit on the floor. Dale was laughing so hard, he barely missed the two apples Dooku picked up from the floor and threw at him. While Dale was distracted by avoiding the apples, Dooku threw himself at him and both boys ended up on the floor wrestling. As the attack had caught Dale of guard, Dooku had the upper hand. But Dale put up quite a fight and after only a few minutes both Padawans were laying on the floor, gasping for air.

“So…. You want to go another round?” Dooku said, while catching his breath.

“Can’t …. Grounded” Dale answered with a gasp. Dooku look concerned:

“What for?” he asked his friend.

“Not sure” Dale said getting up, offering Dooku his hand.

“I don’t get it”. Dooku said, accepting the hand and getting to his feet.

“Weren’t you grounded last week? And how can you not know why?” Dale just looked away.

“Dude?” Dooku asked.

“Look, Master Jafe just told me at dinner. She said I hadn’t behaved like I should this past week. When I asked her why, she told me not to talk back.” Dale looked a little sad. Dooku was often confused by Master Jafe’s teaching methods and from the look of his friend, Dale was too! It seemed to Dooku like Dale’s Master often changed her rules. And apparently forgot to inform her apprentice of these changes. Although his own Master could be very strict, Dooku always knew what was expected of him. Master Sio had only three rules, they were however carved in stone. Breaking or bending them would result in hard correction and a huge punishment. The Padawan had learned that the hard way. The three rules were simple enough and the apprentice knew them by heart: Always obey, keep yourself safe and tell the truth.

“I better get going … ” Dale said with a sigh. Dooku gave his friend a pat on the back and watched in sympathy as he left.

* * *

Dooku was cleaning himself up in the locker room, when he suddenly felt a firm tuck at the bond he shared with his Master. He grabbed his bag at once and headed for their quarters, when he felt his Master’s presence was elsewhere. He reached out and found that his Master for some reason was in one of the classrooms. He changed his pace. When Dooku reached the 34th level of the temple, he found himself heading for classroom 204. Then something started to move in the back of his mind, but he couldn’t put his finger on it …. When he entered the classroom, he spotted his Master at once standing by the first row of chairs, and was talking to …. Master Queety. Oh f…

“Well, Padawan Dooku I’m glad you found time to enter my classroom” Master Queety greeted him. Dooku made a bow to the Master and walked to his own Master’s side careful not to look either of them in the eye. Even so he could feel Master Queety piercing him to the floor with his gaze.

“I believe an agreement was made this morning about you attending my lecture this afternoon” Master Queety asked the apprentice.

“Or am I mistaken?”. All though the answer was obvious, Dooku decided this probably wasn’t the time to point that out. So he simply answered:

“No”.

“I believe it is custom to address a Master with his full title, when answering a question”. Master Queety said haughtily. Dooku cleared his throat and said:

“Sorry Master Queety”. The Master made a deep sigh and said, in a loud voice:

“This kind of behavior is unacceptable!” He then proceeded to deliver a long speech about punctuality and the importance of honoring your commitments. Ten minutes into the lecture, Master Queety suddenly realized that Master Sio hadn’t said a word, since Dooku entered the classroom. So he turned to the boy’s Master, obviously expecting him to continue the lecture, or at least comment on it. But Master Sio merely nodded to the other Master saying in a neutral voice:

“My apprentice made a mistake. I will deal with it and I assure you it won’t happen again”. Master Queety looked bewildered and even more so, when he realized Master Sio was done talking.

“I hope you realize that this boy needs to be disciplined, Master Sio.” The younger Master said in a firm voice. Master Queety, along with more than half of the other Masters at the temple, thought Master Sio was granting Dooku far too much freedom and that he wasn’t being strict enough with the boy. Force knows they had it wrong! They only got that impression for one simple reason: Master Sio preferred to deal with these matters in private. And he couldn’t care less about what other people thought about his methods of teaching or the upbringing of his apprentice in general. He knew how to handle the boy even though Michael Dooku could be at handful a times! In the presence of others, he might correct the boy by clearing his throat or giving him a firm look. But unlike some of the other Masters, he rarely disciplined or lectured his Padawan in public, at least not when others were close enough to hear. The classroom echoed with silence. When Dooku’s Master finally spoke, it was still in a neutral voice:

“I hope you will forgive me, for teaching my way, when dealing with my apprentice”. And on that note he made a polite nod to the other Master and then exited the classroom closely followed by his Padawan.

* * *

Dooku barely made it inside, before Master Sio slammed the door to their quarters. He grabbed the arm of his Padawan and all but dragged him to a kitchen table and practically threw him in one of the chairs. And then asked the only question Master Queety had not.

“I specifically told you to attend that class. Why didn’t you?!” The neutral tone he had used in front of Master Queety was long gone. His Master didn’t yell but the question was asked in a tone Dooku knew too well. One he had privately named “I demand an answer and it better be quick”. And even though he was aware of this, it took too long for him to form an answer.

“PADAWAN!” Dooku almost jumped out of the chair then said the only thing he could:

“I was at the gym and I forgot the time. I didn’t mean to miss it! It just happened”. Master Sio couldn’t help but let out a short laugh.

“It just happened? Well, young man, I think you have just outdone yourself. That is the most stupid excuse you have ever given!” Dooku hated to be called stupid and he didn’t notice that his Master hadn’t called HIM stupid but merely his explanation. But he held his tongue, unsure what his Master expected him to do next. A long silence followed. This was normally NOT a good sign. Dooku wished his Master would just punish him and get it over with! But instead Master Sio took a deep breath and sat down on the chair opposite his apprentice.

“Alright. We have to talk about this.” Dooku looked up at his Master in surprise. _Really? I actually have a say in this?_ His Master continued:

“Master Dayie contacted me the other day and informed me, that you had failed to turn in the last two assignments.” Dooku barely kept himself from slamming his head against the table. _No, no, no, no. Kill me now._ He Master continued:

“But I decided to let it slide, but enough is enough!” More silence. Then the Master took the Padawan completely by surprise by simply asking:

“Haven’t you been spending more and more time, at the gym lately?” Dooku felt confused. _What’s that got to do with anything?_

“Well, it’s not like I time it, but I guess so” the boy answered. His Master then asked:

“How many hours a day do you spend there?” Dooku tried to think about it, but came up short.

“Padawan, I’m trying to make this a conversation instead of an interrogation, but you are not making it easy!” Master Sio said in a firm voice.

“About four hours. At least two of them sparring” the apprentice answered.

“And how much to you spend on your other homework?” Master Sio asked. Dooku thought long and hard about it.

“About an hour or so” he whispered to the floor.

“Pardon?” His Master asked. The boy raised his voice and looked up at his Master.

“About an hour. Maybe less”. Although Dooku was pretty sure where the discussion was headed, he kept quiet hoping he was wrong.

“This is a problem, Michael!” Master Sio said in a strict voice.

“Although the physical part of your education is important, your books are equally as important and you will not neglect them anymore”. Apparently the “discussion” part of the conversation was over. Dooku just kept quiet, until he realized his Master was waiting for an answer. So he simply said:

“Yes, Master.” Sio continued:

“You will not participate in any form of physical exercises for the next four weeks. Your focus will be entirely on your other classes and the homework assigned. That means no sparring of any kind.” His apprentice just stared at his mentor. Obviously his Master wasn’t kidding. Master Sio just stared back, warning the boy to question him. Dooku did his best to keep his mouth shut, but unfortunately he couldn’t …

“But Master, this is so unfair! If we’re on a mission and a fight breaks out, it really doesn’t matter if I can recite the last 20 leaders of Pounth. Also I ..” Dooku never got to finish the sentence. In the spilt second his Master got out of his chair and leaned over the table, grabbing his Padawan’s chin, leaving few inches between them.

“You will not talk back to me! I am your Master and I know what is best for you.” Dooku being so close to his Master, could see the sternness in his eyes and decided not to argue any further. Even though Master Sio lowered his voice a bit, he didn’t let go of Dooku’s chin, as he continued:

“If you don’t know the culture and leadership of a planet, this could in itself lead to an unnecessary conflict. Our work is to prevent conflicts, not provoke them. We are peacemakers and I promise you this part of the job thankfully fills most of our missions. I agreed that we should be able to defend ourselves if the situation presents itself, but it should not be more important than your studies. Now do I make myself clear?” Dooku swallowed and nodded.

“Yes Master, I understand”. His Master finally let go of his chin and Dooku almost broke his chair when he practically fell down in it. His Master, considering the incident over, got up from his own chair and walked to the couch, grabbed a datapad from the coffee table, sat down and started to read. Several minutes later Dooku still sat at the kitchen table, eyes on the floor. Finally he got up and walked to the kitchen to make coffee. When he had completed the task, he poured the liquid into two mugs, walked to the coffee table and put one of them in front of his Master. Master Sio accepted the peace offering and the boy sat down in a chair. After a while Dooku said in a careful voice testing the situation:

“Maassssttter?”. Master Sio looked up at the boy, noticing the red color spreading on his apprentice’s cheeks. “Yyyeeesss Padawan?” he copied. “I’m sorry…” the boy said in a quiet voice. His Master couldn’t help but smile. He got up, walked over to his young apprentice, reached down and ruffled his blond hair.

“Consider the matter settled” he said in a gentle voice before walking into the kitchen to get some milk. Dooku went into his room to get a book to take back to the living room and threw himself on the couch. Master Sio returned and sat himself in the other end of the small couch, as Dooku’s growing form took up most of the space, he lifted the boy’s feet so they rested on him and sat down. Minutes passed. Then the Master threw a glance at Dooku, noticing the book he was reading. He cleared his throat.

“You do realize “Dracula” isn’t part of your lesson plan, don’t you?” he said.

“Really? I hadn’t noticed” Dooku answered, while looking back at his Master with an innocent look. His master merely lifted an eyebrow at him, and Dooku didn’t miss the subtle hint. He put on his most endearing smile, hoping to charm his way out of his cheeky comment. His Master couldn’t help but smile.

“You know one of these days, that charming smile of yours won’t be enough to save you ….” But luckily for Dooku this wasn’t that day ………..


End file.
